10 Potent Peppermint Essential Oil Uses for Health

Mentha piperita, or the peppermint plant, has been used for centuries as a medicinal herb and in cooking. Peppermint is found in many cleaning products, teas, candies, and stomach medicines today. Peppermint oil is also steam extracted into essential oil from the leaves for its health benefits. Experts in essential oils always have this powerful oil on hand. Here are 10 potent peppermint essential oil uses. You will most certainly find a use for it right away.

Peppermint Constituents

Peppermint essential oil is a highly concentrated form of the plant. One drop contains more than 20 cup of peppermint tea equivalents in compounds! Choosing peppermint oil that uses steam distilled and pure guarantees it has only pure peppermint. Many “natural” oils have chemical solvents in them.

Peppermint Oil Health Benefits

Peppermint essential oil is no stranger to health benefits in research. The National Library of Medicine today has over 1300 research citations related to peppermint alone.

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Important: Choose Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade Oils. I recommend using Doterra because of its consistent purity. The best ways to get essential oils is with an essential oil starter kit.

Tip: Diffuse peppermint oil throughout the day to increase your alertness and reduce fatigue.

2. Add to Water for Exercise and Lung Health

Peppermint essential oil added to water, about 1 drop oil per day, during exercise enhanced athletic ability for young men by increasing power, time to exhaustion, and improved respiratory and heart rate as well as blood pressure.

5. Peppermint oil skin itch relief

Tip: peppermint essential oil can provide instant relief when applied topically to the area of concern.

6. Peppermint Pain Reliever

Chronic neck pain is reduced by the essential oil combination that includes peppermint, marjoram, black pepper, and lavender. marjoram, black pepper, lavender, and peppermint in a clinical study of 60 patients.

A case report of a woman with postherpetic neuralgia found pain relief with continued use of topical peppermint oil (19).

Other case reports have shown muscle pain relief with use of topical peppermint ointment, including relief of TMJ (20).

Tip: add peppermint oil to areas of discomfort for immediate relief.

7. Grow Hair

Early research shows that peppermint essential oil is a safe, natural alternative to help balding.

In an animal study, peppermint oil was more effective than prescriptive hair regrowth solutions for stimulated hair production (21).

Because peppermint has many components, it has many actions at play. Here are a few.

Menthol activates TRPM8: a voltage-gated ion-channel protein : this allows entry of calcium ions on sensing the change in temperature.

Whenever there is a drop in temperature, the voltage on TRPM8 changes so that it allows calcium ions to flow into the nerve cell. This triggers the current to flow from the membrane of the nerve cell and you then sense coolness.

By bringing down the perceived temperature, peppermint helps to bring down inflammation.

One memorable time, Peppermint oil came to the rescue was when my 12 yr old son started dry heaving at Yellowstone while we walked along the boardwalk among the hot-springs that smelled strongly of sulphur. I was thinking – no way I want my son to throw up amongst all the visitors right on the boardwalk – so I quickly pulled my peppermint out of my handy essential oil key-chain and with a couple breaths of it -he was fine. Phew- disaster averted. We’ve also diverted the car-sickness disaster a few times as well – don’t leave on a car-trip without it!

Dosing

Research studies use doses of 90 mg or 0.2-0.4 ml of oral peppermint. Topical peppermint is applied per drop to affected areas.

Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade (CPTG) peppermint essential oil has the following main constituents: menthol, menthone, alpha pinenes and beta pinenes, menthyl acetate, plus many other healthful components. Interestingly, linalool is also rich in lavender, which has calming effects too. Click here for ways to get CPTG oils.

Precautions

Peppermint at high doses orally can have side effects, including kidney toxicity. You only need a drop or two for health benefits.

Do not use peppermint oil if you have an allergy to this plant

Although peppermint is generally safe to be added to foods, always check with your healthcare provider before making changes to your health routine as it may interact with your medications or conditions.

Pregnant women should not use peppermint in high concentrations.

Peppermint oil may stimulate bile flow, so it shouldn’t be used in people with gallbladder issues unless under medical supervision.

Essential Oil Tip:

The information on this website has not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration or any other medical body and is shared for educational purposes only. Consult your doctor or healthcare provider before making changes to your supplement regimen or lifestyle.

Heidi Moretti, MS, RD is The Healthy RD. A registered dietitian for 20 years, has a passion for functional nutrition and natural medicine. Has researched supplements and plants as medicine throughout her career. Loves helping people gain function and vitality by tackling root causes of illness.

Heidi Moretti, MS, RD is The Healthy RD. A registered dietitian for 20 years, has a passion for functional nutrition and natural medicine. Has researched supplements and plants as medicine throughout her career. Loves helping people gain function and vitality by tackling root causes of illness.